Tour Retests Show Up New Offenders

Retesting samples for a previously undetected performance-enhancing drug has led to a four new riders failing doping tests during this year’s Tour de France.

France’s national anti-doping agency (AFLD) confirmed that four riders had tested positive for Cera, a version of blood booster EPO.

Climbing specialist Bernhard Kohl became the latest Tour de France competitor to test the positive for the drug – the Austrian won the King of the Mountains jersey as the best climber on this year’s Tour and was third overall.

Kohl’s Gerolsteiner team-mate Stefan Schumacher, plus Leonardo Piepoli and Riccardo Ricco, also failed Cera tests.

AFLD revealed in September that it would be re-testing blood samples from some riders after it discovered a more effective test for Cera.

Ricco tested positive for the blood-boosting drug during the race, and on 6th October, his fellow Italian and Saunier Duval team-mate Piepoli was also revealed to have used Cera, along with Schumacher.

The Gerolsteiner team will disband at the end of the year, while Kohl had signed a three-year contract with Silence.

Ricco, who has been banned for two years, and Piepoli were sacked by Saunier Duval in July, the latter for ‘violation of the team’s ethics code’.

The AFLD has not said whether it has now completed the re-testing of samples, leaving open the possibility of more positive results.

The discovery of a new test for Cera has prompted the International Olympic Committee to retest 5,000 samples from the Beijing Games.